The Lenovo 14e Chromebook Enterprise is a cheap laptop for clumsy employees

Chromebooks are getting better and better every time we turn around, and while most of Lenovo's MWC even was devoted to ThinkPads running Windows 10, they still found the room for an appetizing enterprise-and-education-geared Chromebook that's going to be making a lot of Office Procurement managers sit up and salivate next month.

With a sophisticated but durable aluminum housing, thin bezels on its 14-inch FHD touchscreen, and a fold-flat hinge, the 14e is a new take on the workhorse of the enterprise world: the 14-inch, company-issued laptop. This new style may not look as butch as Lenovo's more school-focused models, but the 14e Chromebook Enterprise meets Lenovo's education durability requirements, meaning it should be able to take a beating from clumsy employees and the normal rigors of an active workplace, but the most lucrative spec on display here is really the price.

Category

Spec

Operating system

Chrome OS

Display

14-inch IPS Touchscreen1080p or 720p

Processor

2.5 GHz A4 AMD® dual-core processorAMD Integrated Graphics

Storage

Up to 64 eMMc

Expandable

microSD

RAM

Up to 8GB (DDR4)

Connectivity

Two USB 3.1 USB-C Two USB 3.1 USB-AOne Audio Combo

Audio

Dolby Audio

Battery

57Wh (Up to 10 hours)

Dimensions

328.4 x 225 x 17.7 mm3.26 lb

Starting price

$279

The 14e starts under $300 for a brand-new Chromebook with 2 USB-C ports for fast recharging and newer all-in-one hubs, as well as 2 USB 3.1 USB-A ports to plugging in the trusty trackball mouse or quickly transferring project files to or from a client's portable hard drive and Dolby Audio for those ripper PowerPoint animations. This understated Chromebook is quite the price performer, whether you're buying one for your wife or one thousand for your western region branches.

The competitive price and flexibility, when combined with Chrome Enterprise's easy deployment and corporate management and the continued migration towards cloud-based systems will make the Lenovo 14e Chromebook Enterprise perfect for companies looking to replace an ancient fleet of Windows laptops — and desktops, as businesses continues to shift towards more flexible workspaces.

The Lenovo 14e Chromebook Enterprise will be available in the US starting in March, and you can be sure that once it is, we intend to give it a proper shakedown.

Ara Wagoner

Ara Wagoner is a Writer at Android Central. She themes phones and pokes Google Play Music with a stick. When she's not writing help and how-to's, she's off dreaming about Disney and singing show tunes. If you see her without headphones, RUN. You can follow her on Twitter at @arawagco.